The SVC men's basketball team earned the 1000th victory in program history with a 71-65 decision over the University of Mount Union in the final day of the Al Van Wie Rotary Classic in Wooster, Ohio.

The Bearcats withstood a late charge by the Raiders, led by senior Sean Kett, who was named to the All-Tournament Team, and junior Ben Klimchock, who hit key shots in both halves.
 
JC Howard scored the Bearcats' first five points, hitting a three that made the score 5-2 just over a minute into play.  The Raiders then went on a 7-point run, taking a 9-5 lead at the 13:51 mark. 
 
Jaylon Bell then provided a spark for SVC, with five straight points that tied the game at 11-11 with 12:10 on the clock. 
 
Down 17-15, SVC's Ben Klimchock hit back-to-back three pointers to give the lead, and momentum, to the Bearcats.  A turnaround jumper by Austin Ford increased the lead to six, 23-17.
 
After the Raiders cut the margin to four (25-21), Sean Kett scored on a layup, then took advantage of a technical foul on a Mount Union player and sank both shots from the charity stripe to make the score 29-21.  A pair of free throws from Bobby Swartwout at the 4:44 mark made it a 10-point game, and the Bearcats maintained a double-digit lead into the halftime break, 38-27.

Early in the second half, the Raiders cut the gap to eight, 40-32, but a three from Howard and a tip in by Swartout ran the lead back to 13.  

However, Mount Union then went on an 8-0 run to make it a three point game, 47-44, but the Bearcats responded with a 9-0 run of their own, with four different players contributing points.

The Bearcats led 60-48 before a well-placed timeout by the Raiders, as they scored the game's next 8 points, before Kett hit two free throws to end the run.

A Mount Union score with 1:22 left dropped the SVC lead down to just two, 63-61, but Klimchock then hit a key layup with just over a minute left to make it a four-point game.

After a Raider miss, Jaylon Bell hit two free throws at the 59 second mark to make it a six-point game, 67-61, but a long three by Mount Union once again made it a three-point game with 39 ticks left.  Bell sank two free throws with 31.8 remaining, and Ford hit an uncontested layup in the closing seconds to seal the win.

Bell was the top scorer for SVC with 15 points, while Kett and Howard added 13 each, and Klimchock scored 10.  Kett grabbed 9 rebounds, followed by Pat Jones and Geoff FuQuay with 6 each.  

The victory was the 1000th in the history of the Bearcat program, dating back to the 1928-29 season.  

Saint Vincent (2-3) will host Penn State-Fayette in the Carey Center on Monday, November 24, at 7PM.